It wasn't a Maverick but the Mercury version

[G19Tony]

I had a 1968 Mercury Cougar XR7. I thought it was better than my brothers 65 Mustang. My sister had a 67 Cougar and Mom had a 69 XR7. Dad drove a Mercury Marquis.

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[CTYankee]

I had a 1968 Mercury Cougar XR7. I thought it was better than my brothers 65 Mustang. My sister had a 67 Cougar and Mom had a 69 XR7. Dad drove a Mercury Marquis.

This one is mine (68 Cougar XR-7 GT):

Back in the mid-70's, I was working as a driving instructor in San Diego and my training car was a 1974 Mercury Comet.

 

[MetalsGeek]

I had a '72 Maverick with the 302 V8 back in the day, advertised in Marlboro-style commercials as a "Simple Machine". I put a lot of racing parts into the powertrain, including 4.11 gears in the rear end. It ate Camaros and Mazda RX4s for breakfast. The drum brakes on all 4 corners were not up to the task, but I loved that car.

 

[Edrobyn]

I’d forgotten how homely the old Maverick/Comets use to be!

 

[G19Tony]

This one is mine (68 Cougar XR-7 GT):

Back in the mid-70's, I was working as a driving instructor in San Diego and my training car was a 1974 Mercury Comet.

I'd love to have another one someday. We painted mine Dupont Imron Metallic Blue. Looked great. I also had BFG's on mine with Mickey Thompson slotted mags. What a car.

 

[MM Mav]

This one is mine (68 Cougar XR-7 GT):

The setting looks familiar...
Are you parked on the hill at Carlisle?
Do you take it to expos there often?

 

[Meeka]

Somehow ford division came up with the name Maverick for their new small car in the early 70's, Mercury Division stayed with their Comet which was their version of the Ford Falcon. I had one of those. My first car bought for $150. Very nice 1963 model, 2 door Green with white Roof. Very young inexperienced driver that I was car was totaled at an intersection (clearly not my fault). Amazingly no injuries even without the seat belts which were not legally required at that time.

Use to have a Ford Falcon, 289, fun!

 

[CTYankee]

The setting looks familiar...
Are you parked on the hill at Carlisle?
Do you take it to expos there often?

Yes, that's the hill across the way from where the Mavericks were gathered. We've been taking it there every year since 2015.

2024 will be it's last year for Carlisle, but it's going out on top with a class 1st Place. On the way home, it blew a head gasket so this whole summer has gone to an engine rebuild, It's still numbers-matching, though, with the VIN on the block and all the date codes lining up correctly. 2025 will probably see it sold as it's getting too hard to find people around here who know these cars or want to work on them. Until that happens, it will get driven locally only.

The Maverick is already registered for Carlisle 2025. This will be it's first time there.

 

[Maverickman74]

I had a '72 Maverick with the 302 V8 back in the day, advertised in Marlboro-style commercials as a "Simple Machine". I put a lot of racing parts into the powertrain, including 4.11 gears in the rear end. It ate Camaros and Mazda RX4s for breakfast. The drum brakes on all 4 corners were not up to the task, but I loved that car.

I had a fast 74 with afr heads and 4 wheel drums lol. Honestly it's stopped hard with good shoes in em, lack of power assist kept it from locking up when it was dry, but when it was wet you had to plan ahead. Drove it through 5 ohio winters though. I loved the looks I would get when people would see it out covered in snow.

 

[MM Mav]

2024 will be it's last year for Carlisle, but it's going out on top with a class 1st Place.

Congratulations on the 1st place win!
Glad you'll be able to join your fellow MTC'ers in June 2025!

 

[OldNavyGuy]

Don't forget the awesome taillights and a nose only Edsel could love. I do wish Mercury survived or even was brought back. Mercury as a name evokes speed and space age, futuristic emotions. I think Ford would have done well to roll out their EVs and even the plug in hybrids as Mercury's. It would have saved the Mustang from the Mach E taint, and given them an option to sell electrified Mavericks as Mercury Comets, thd Lightning would have done well as a Merc too. It would give them an option to class up the EVs and justify their higher costs at least until the world gets used to them.

Totally agree. Drove a 2010 Mercury Mariner Hybrid AWD (Ford Escape) until trading it in for the 24 Lariat Mav. Loved that little car, save one very scary bad-brake-wiring experience when it was 18 months old. No one hurt, and Ford took very good care of us, so no complaints. Only had one other problem with that car over the next 12 1/2 years - the GPS antenna went out, so the head unit got replaced under the extended warranty. Never one single problem ever with the 2.5 L Atkinson ICE in 105K miles.
It averaged 28-32 MPG over the years, and finished out with 30+ when I traded it, even though the nickel-metal-hydride battery was 14 yrs old at that point. It was a tough decision to get rid of it.

All of this is to say, that Mercury would have been the perfect line in which to introduce their high-tech advances. It came stock as the mid-trim level between Ford and Lincoln, so it was the sweet spot for early adopters.

 

[Johnny maverick]

I love my Mercury's. I had a comet gt back in the day. My first car was a 460 grand marquis. Had a 2003 marauder. Now i have a 70 429 marquis convertible and 89 supercharged xr7 5 spd currently. Wish they didn't drop the brand.

 

[Klay]

When I told my mother I was getting a Maverick, she said "We had one of those!"

 

[Cocobean]

My parents had an early 70s Comet; it’s the car I learned to drive in.
That and and a ‘67 Country Squire - that was a pretty big vehicle as I recall.

 

[Cocobean]

I had a 1968 Mercury Cougar XR7. I thought it was better than my brothers 65 Mustang. My sister had a 67 Cougar and Mom had a 69 XR7. Dad drove a Mercury Marquis.

I loved the Cougar! My older sisters friend had one that was blue with a white interior; I loved it
even tho I was too young to drive at the time

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